Nutrient temp?

[GpsFrontier]

I am familiar with the nutrient temp needing to be around 68-72 degrees to mimic what's in the ground. I was wondering if anyone has any information on what problems might arise if the nutrient temp goes much lower than say 50 degrees?

[Luches]

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

I was wondering if anyone has any information on what problems might arise if the nutrient temp goes much lower than say 50 degrees?

Well, what happens is that the outside (or room) temperature will be around 50 F or 10°C as well (a bit higher though). And I'd rather be concerned with that fact

In case outside temperatures are getting low and the nutrient temperature drops to (let's say) 15C/59F or below, one may consider heating the nutes up to 20-22° C with a 10 bucks aquarium heater.

What will happen actually when nute temps (and/or outside/room temps) will drop under 50 degrees? Nothing fancy, the available oxygen in the nutrients will increase somewhat but the general metabolism and uptake of plants will be much lower, - until stagnation.

PS: with low temperature of nutrients the EC should be higher to encourage osmosis.

[GpsFrontier]

Originally Posted by Luches

Well, what happens is that the outside (or room) temperature will be around 50 F or 10°C as well (a bit higher though). And I'd rather be concerned with that fact

In case outside temperatures are getting low and the nutrient temperature drops to (let's say) 15C/59F or below, one may consider heating the nutes up to 20-22° C with a 10 bucks aquarium heater.

What will happen actually when nute temps (and/or outside/room temps) will drop under 50 degrees? Nothing fancy, the available oxygen in the nutrients will increase somewhat but the general metabolism and uptake of plants will be much lower, - until stagnation.

PS: with low temperature of nutrients the EC should be higher to encourage osmosis.

Sence my last post in this thread I have been doing some thinking and have come to the same conclusion about the fish aquarium heaters. Though the cheapest I have found at Walmart were $15 with a preset temp of 78 degrees. (I have 4 systems 5 reservoirs to control the temp of planed). I am also considering heat blankets because they would be waterproof because you need to wash them. Simply cutting the blanket away from the coils and inserting them into the reservoir or around it and or wrapping the blanket around the system. This may not work in a lot of places but in this small town there is a lot of garage sales and I may be able to pick some up cheep.

What will happen actually when nute temps (and/or outside/room temps) will drop under 50 degrees? Nothing fancy, the available oxygen in the nutrients will increase somewhat but the general metabolism and uptake of plants will be much lower, - until stagnation.

I am not worried about the daytime temps because they are usually well above 50 during the winter here. But the night time temps are what I am mostly concerned with. Most of the plants that I will be growing this winter do OK/well during cold weather. Our winter last year never went below 32 degrees that I know of so I don"t think I will have too much problem there, though it can happen. The tomatoes are a warm weather plant and we plan build a trellis using P.V.C. to support it. I can cover it with sheet plastic (a painters drop cloth) and maybe a can of Sterno to warm it up at night.

I don"t have a EC meter and wont any time soon, But because that is a way of telling how strong the nutrient mix is I am assuming that in general that in cold areas (temps) a stronger nutrient mix is best because of osmosis. So because of the general temps the nutrients should be stronger?

[Luches]

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

(I have 4 systems 5 reservoirs to control the temp of planed). I am also considering heat blankets because they would be waterproof because you need to wash them.

If you have 5 reservoirs to control (heat) I may have another solution in petto for you. Just tell me how far away the reservoirs are from each other (in meter perhaps? . It is important in the context of the solution I may have.

I perhaps need to do a drawing or 3D simulation, and look up a few technical terms, (non-native writers run out of vocabulary sometimes) so hang on there!

[GpsFrontier]

Originally Posted by Luches

If you have 5 reservoirs to control (heat) I may have another solution in petto for you. Just tell me how far away the reservoirs are from each other (in meter perhaps? . It is important in the context of the solution I may have.

I perhaps need to do a drawing or 3D simulation, and look up a few technical terms, (non-native writers run out of vocabulary sometimes) so hang on there!

All reservoirs will be within 25 ft (8.5 meters) of each other but at different heights. 2 are flood and drain, one a drip system, one water culture type. The water culture type will be on top of a table that is about 30" high and, the drip system will be about the same height as the water culture. The two flood and drain will be close to the ground 1 ft or hopefully or lower. although all the reservoirs except for the water culture will be at ground level or slightly lower

Sorry, I cant get the scanner to work right now and it is around 5:30 am here but I do have a to scale drawing of the back yard. Hopefully I can get the scanner to work tomorrow.

[Luches]

Hi again!
Ok, let me just briefly explain what it is about before getting involved (both of us) in something that is out of question. I am not sure if it is a appropriate system for several reservoirs with that much space in between.

I've once build (long time ago) a floatation tank that held nearly 1000 Liter (some 250 gallons) of water that needed to be heated and kept constantly at 34.5°C in a rather cool environement (indoors though). I did so with a small 2Kw water heater (we call that "under sink water boiler") and a few meters of garden hose, a small water pump, plus some plumbing fittings and simple house hold stuff.

If it happened that you already have a used 2-3 Kw electric water heater (because these aren't exactly cheap), it's done in a day. Closed hot water circuit but not under pressure. No supplementary electronics needed, if the heater has a simple but "continuously variable" temp regulation. I am not sure about the terminology here but I bet you know what I am talking about.

So please, tell me if such a solution is of interest for you and if you got the stuff or are willing to get it in case...

Cheers,
Luches

[GpsFrontier]

Originally Posted by Luches

Hi again!
Ok, let me just briefly explain what it is about before getting involved (both of us) in something that is out of question. I am not sure if it is a appropriate system for several reservoirs with that much space in between.

I've once build (long time ago) a floatation tank that held nearly 1000 Liter (some 250 gallons) of water that needed to be heated and kept constantly at 34.5°C in a rather cool environement (indoors though). I did so with a small 2Kw water heater (we call that "under sink water boiler") and a few meters of garden hose, a small water pump, plus some plumbing fittings and simple house hold stuff.

If it happened that you already have a used 2-3 Kw electric water heater (because these aren't exactly cheap), it's done in a day. Closed hot water circuit but not under pressure. No supplementary electronics needed, if the heater has a simple but "continuously variable" temp regulation. I am not sure about the terminology here but I bet you know what I am talking about.

So please, tell me if such a solution is of interest for you and if you got the stuff or are willing to get it in case...

Cheers,
Luches

I know them as "tankless water heaters," the smaller ones are made to go under a sink. I don't have one, and they are expensive. The tankless water heaters are a good thought but even if I could get it to work for all diffident reservoir it would be too expensive unless I could find one at a yard sale or something.

[Luches]

Mine was actually not tank less, it had a 5 liter tank. Those were cheaper at the time, as the tankless model had to be more powerful (3-4Kw at least) Think it over and tell me if you need a complete description of the mechanism and the setup.

Btw: I run my setups by quite similar "tactics", even more units with individual reservoirs and pumps, ranging from 80-180 liter. It allows a lot of flexibility and I can use different formulas and concentrations for various plants. But I was thinking lately of connecting them (at least some) to a central reservoir of 800-1000 liters. If that was done, I would have less work to monitor each setup. It also would be much easier to cool or heat (in my case most likely cool) the whole enchilada by simply installing the unit with the central reservoir.

[GpsFrontier]

Originally Posted by Luches

Mine was actually not tank less, it had a 5 liter tank. Those were cheaper at the time, as the tankless model had to be more powerful (3-4Kw at least) Think it over and tell me if you need a complete description of the mechanism and the setup.

Btw: I run my setups by quite similar "tactics", even more units with individual reservoirs and pumps, ranging from 80-180 liter. It allows a lot of flexibility and I can use different formulas and concentrations for various plants. But I was thinking lately of connecting them (at least some) to a central reservoir of 800-1000 liters. If that was done, I would have less work to monitor each setup. It also would be much easier to cool or heat (in my case most likely cool) the whole enchilada by simply installing the unit with the central reservoir.

If you have it handy, I would love to see a complete description of the mechanism and the setup. It wont start getting down into the low 40's tell about December so I do have some time to see what I can find. Plus I am always looking for new ideas and better ways to do things with hydroponics even if I cant afford it at the time. How would you be able to use different formulas and concentrations as well as different pH levels using a central reservoir? I am going to have fun checking and adjusting pH for 5 reservoirs as well as nutrient changes myself.

[Luches]

Ok, let me see what I can do.

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

How would you be able to use different formulas and concentrations as well as different pH levels using a central reservoir? I am going to have fun checking and adjusting pH for 5 reservoirs as well as nutrient changes myself.

That would not be possible, obviously...
In that case, (for those connected) I'd settle for a common formula, concentration, etc.
I like to do that too, but with up to 10 it's getting a lot of work. The actual problem is that some setups tend to be neglected at the end.